Tibetan dies of self-immolation in protest of China

Source: Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — A Tibetan man set himself on fire and died in a protest earlier this week calling for the return of the region’s exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, a rights monitoring group reported.

The Washington, D.C.-based International Campaign for Tibet said 23-year-old Dorbe self-immolated on Sunday in Ngaba county, a traditionally Tibetan region of Sichuan province.

The group reported that Dorbe wished long life to the Dalai Lama before setting himself on fire, becoming the 154st Tibetan to self-immolate since the protests began in 2009. Such acts have grown increasingly rare in recent years amid a smothering security crackdown by the Chinese authorities.